America the Broken?

Photos: AP images

What began as an example of horrific police abuse of a helpless man is ending with calls for sweeping societal reforms. America is asking itself many questions in these fraught times, among them: Do police officers disproportionately harass and discriminate against black Americans? Should be police departments be defunded altogether, or completely restructured? What place, if any, does violent rioting have in our body politic? How do these events compare to some of the infamous riots in America’s history?

For the Orthodox Jewish community in America, the unrest has also left us to consider our place in the wider social fabric. The Torah demands justice and compassion for the downtrodden, and we, as Jews who reflect those values are outraged and sickened by the societal prejudice manifest in the murder of George Floyd. However, as among the smallest of minorities, American Jews depend on the protection of the police against anti-Semites. As we have seen just in the last year and a half in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Monsey, New York, that protection is often the difference between life and death.

To dig deeper into these complex issues, we invited a panel of experts to answer a series of questions. They are:

Richard Altabe is the principal of the Lower School at the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach and is currently the chairman of the board at the Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula.  He has been active in local community politics for many years, serving as an elected school board member in Queens and on the local community board.

Cheryl Greenberg is a professor of history at Trinity College who teaches courses in African American history and the history of race in the US. Her research interests include black-Jewish relations and the civil rights movement.

Maria Haberfeld is a professor of police science in the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Born in Poland, she immigrated to Israel as a teenager, serving in the Israel Defense Forces in a counter-terrorism unit, and later as a member of the Israel National Police. She is an expert in police training and has worked extensively with the New York City Police Department.

Jeff Jacoby is a prize-winning columnist for the Boston Globe.

David Luchins is chair of the political science department at Touro College and the founding dean at the Lander College for Women. He has long been active in Jewish communal life. He was the senior advisor for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, on whose staff he served for 20 years.

1. Something seems to be broken in the United States. A significant portion of the population does not trust law enforcement, and many are suspicious of politicians. Between the coronavirus, the high unemployment rates, and the mass protests following yet another police killing, there’s a feeling that the country is pulling apart. What do you think led to this state of affairs, and what can be done to address it?

Prof. Haberfeld: I have been studying, researching, and publishing on the topic of policing in the United States and around the world for over 25 years. From the moment I started looking at the American policing system, it was clear to me that it was profoundly broken. Actually the first words I ever uttered, when I first arrived in this country over 35 years ago to serve in the Office of the Israel Police Representative in the United States, and found out that there are over 18,000 police forces in the country, were: “It is a paradise for criminals.” Later on, I added to my perception that it is also a source of unprofessional service and a dangerous approach to this most noble of professions.

I am convinced that policing — effective, fair, and professional policing — is the pillar of any democracy. Likewise, and the opposite of these qualities, an ineffective, unfair, and unprofessional police force will be the source of its demise. Police is a visible arm of a local, state, or federal government. Not only is it its visible arm, it is also its most tangible arm. It is hard to put your hands, figuratively and physically, on a given politician. And the higher up they are, the harder it becomes. But it’s so easy to reach out for a brick or a bottle of urine and toss it, together with your individual frustration, at the visible and tangible representative of the politicians.